365 Days of Joy: Week 10

I’ve decided to do 365 days of joy this year (inspired by the wonderful Raquel Kato, author of the Story of a Rose blog). Some posts my be long, some may be only a sentence, but the important thing is finding joy in your everyday life, because there are so many things to be joyful about, and I tend to forget that. I’ll be posting one every week, and hopefully, along with joy, I can gain a little consistency in my life. 😉 So here we go, week 10!

I like this as a lenten reminder of what is about to come. Jesus has already proven himself to be our hero, we just have to ready our hearts and open them up to him. He has done His part for the world; we just need to invite Him into our own stories.

3.05.15

I started reading St. Augustine’s “Confessions”–I realized I have never read it cover to cover, just bits and pieces. It starts off with beautiful questions to God, and my favorite one (so far) comes from the first section:

“Grant me, Lord, to know and understand which is first, to call on Thee or to praise Thee? and, again, to know Thee or to call on Thee? for who can call on Thee, not knowing Thee? for he that knoweth Thee not, may call on Thee as other than Thou art.”

3.06.15

So you know Raquel Kato, the one I always give a shout out to at the beginning of my posts? Well, not only is she an amazing blogger and mother (of my beautiful God child AvaMarie), but she is also extremely talented when it comes to anything and everything artsy/crafty. She has her own Etsy shop, called TheLittleRoseShop, and it is positively adorable. Everything is handmade with so much thought and care, and she is always adding new, original products. I really don’t know how she does it! Anyway, today I finally made my first purchase from the shop, and I bought my new niece an adorable headband with two roses on it. Hopefully in the near future I will have a picture of baby Maria wearing the headband and I can show it off to all of you, but in the meantime you should check out Raquel’s shop by clicking here!

3.07.15

Spring is definitely upon us here in the Netherlands! Saturday was so beautiful out, so the kids and I spent all morning playing outside and picking flowers! Also, that night I got to go to Mass in the Little Church in Hoensbroek–which is my favorite church around.

3.08.15

Today I got to babysit an American family and it was so much fun! There is such a big difference between Dutch toddlers and American pre-teens that it was kind of a reverse culture shock for a moment! That didn’t last long, however, and before you knew it we were jumping on the trampoline, skateboarding (the oldest boy tried to teach me how to longboard…it went ok…..) and going for a picnic in the woods. It was fantastic!

3.09.15

Today I channeled my inner book nerd and brushed up on some Irish literature…and then I decided to write short blog post about it! You can check it out here, or I think there is a back button at the end of this post and you can press that. I had so much fun writing this blog because I had to search for pictures of all my quotes and in doing that I found even more that I love, resulting in me spending too much time on Pinterest, but hey, it was research!

3.10.15

This technically happened on the 9th, but since it’s so wonderful I am allowed to be happy about it for more than one day! One of my longest and greatest friends, Emily Morgan, asked me to be a reader in her wedding this October! Isn’t that wonderful!?! I am so honored that she and Kevin are including me in their day!

3.11.15

Yesterday I started a St. Joseph Novena, but I read through it very quickly and didn’t really pay attention to what I was reading. Today, I took it slower and really prayed the words, instead of just reading them. Guys, it is beautiful! I encourage all of you to pick it up–even if you are behind, the beauty and power of this prayer will still be there! Gosh, he is great!

Saint Joseph, you are the faithful protector and intercessor of all who love and venerate you. You know that I have confidence in you and that, after Jesus and Mary, I come to you as an example for holiness, for you are especially close with God. Therefore, I humbly commend myself, with all who are dear to me and all that belong to me, to your intercession. I beg of you, by your love for Jesus and Mary, not to abandon me during life and to assist me at the hour of my death.

Glorious Saint Joseph, spouse of the Immaculate Virgin, pray for me to have a pure, humble, charitable mind, and perfect resignation to the divine Will. Be my guide, my father, and my model through life that I may die as you did in the arms of Jesus and Mary.

Loving Saint Joseph, faithful follower of Jesus Christ, I raise my heart to you to implore your powerful intercession in obtaining from the Divine Heart of Jesus all the graces necessary for my spiritual and temporal welfare, particularly the grace of a happy death, and the special grace I now implore:

(Mention your request)

Guardian of the Word Incarnate, I feel confident that your prayers on my behalf will be graciously heard before the throne of God.

Day 1 – St. Joseph Most Just, Pray for us!
Day 2 – St. Joseph Most Prudent, Pray for us!
Day 3 – St. Joseph Most Loving Husband, Pray for us!
Day 4 – St. Joseph Most Strong, Pray for us!
Day 5 – St. Joseph Most Obedient, Pray for us!
Day 6 – St. Joseph Most Faithful, Pray for us!
Day 7 – St. Joseph Pillar of Families, Pray for us!
Day 8 – St. Joseph Patron of the Dying, Pray for us!
Day 9 – St. Joseph Terror of Demons, Pray for us!

Amen.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end.

Amen.

So, that is my week! Hope you enjoyed this post and I hope you all have had and continue to have a wonderful week! God Bless!